“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who prayed in our church, said that freedom rings. A silent bell represents unfinished work of freedom and equality. This bell, in this sacred and historic church, will be silent no more.” — Reginald F. Davis, Pastor of First Baptist Church

Against a contemporary backdrop of racial tension, Colonial Williamsburg will restore a church bell silent since segregation and let it ring for freedom for all of Black History Month. The National Network for Arab Americans (NNAAC) and its Campaign to TAKE ON HATE will participate in this Let Freedom Ring Campaign.

NNAAC, a national consortium of independent Arab American community-based organizations, is honored to support a campaign that brings issues of racism and civil rights to the forefront. NNAAC and its Campaign to TAKE ON HATE have been invited to be a part of the first to ring the restored bell of the First Baptist Church on Feb. 1, 2016, and have vowed to take the challenge and spread the word.

For the next couple of months, commuters in southeast Michigan will hear one message loud and clear: to be the difference by joining the movement to TAKE ON HATE.

Join us in telling our nation's leaders to oppose legislation that would stop, pause or defund the resettlement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees. The American Security against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act of 2015 (H.R. 4038) would effectively reject humanitarian efforts and close the doors to these refugees. Our country is repeating the same mistakes of the past when we closed our doors to Jews fleeing the Nazi regime and punished innocent Japanese Americans with illegal internment.

Tell your senators that refugees are not our enemies!

At his last State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said exactly what the American people need to hear in what has become a hostile political climate. He called on Americans to reject the targeting of people based solely on race or religion and clearly stated that vilifying Muslims, both abroad and citizens of the U.S., is un-American.  

"I plan on expanding our presence on college campuses, building more collaborations with similar groups and campaigns, and utilizing other pathways to spread our message to TAKE ON HATE." — Asha Noor

Asha Noor serves as the Advocacy and Engagement Specialist for the Campaign to TAKE ON HATE, led by the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC). Noor has worked both domestically and abroad in conflict zones with marginalized communities, including women, afro-indigenous groups, refugees, religious minorities and trauma victims.

"The Campaign to TAKE ON HATE is a great fit for me because I love to mobilize and organize around causes that are not only pressing, but that I am also passionate about. In the past, I’ve worked on racial justice issues and advocacy work with marginalized communities. TAKE ON HATE has all of those elements and more. It blends together advocacy work, narrative, civic engagement, community building and collaborative efforts," Noor says.

Before coming to NNAAC, Noor worked with Islamic Relief USA, where she gained an extensive understanding of Middle East conflict and international humanitarian issues. This prompted her interest in Conflict and Peace studies. During her graduate studies at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, she has focused much of her research and work on Somalia and conflicts facing the Somali Diaspora.

"What I love most about my work in peace and conflict studies is its reflective practices. There’s this misconception that peace-builders go in to “fix” a situation. That model is extremely flawed; really we learn and grow collectively through peace-building. It’s as much a transformative process for me as I hope it is for the communities we work alongside," Noor says.

"We stand against hate. We love and protect our Arab and Muslim neighbors." Thank you, Michigan Voice, for showing your support!

In solidarity with Kevin Matthews—a man shot by a Dearborn police officer last month—and the #BlackLivesMatter movement, the Campaign to TAKE ON HATE joined civil rights groups and more than 100 protesters in Dearborn, Mich. on Monday, Jan. 4 to demand justice.

Marching down Michigan Avenue, the peaceful crowd chanted “no justice, no peace” and held signs that read "We want justice for all," along with other messages from the National Action Network, which organized the protest. 

"We don’t believe that justice will be achieved through closed doors and there are so many unanswered questions that have not been answered. We want to support the family and we want to support the community, which has been devastated by the killing," TAKE ON HATE Campaign Manager and former State Rep. Rashida Tlaib told the Detroit Free Press. 

In The New York Times: "Is this America? We grieve the many lives that have been lost or painfully transformed in recent weeks through extreme acts of violence. And we are appalled by the surge of divisive rhetoric that sows the seeds of more violence to come ... When has hate ever led to progress? Is this really what we want America to be?#‎WeAreBetterThanThis. We call upon our politicians, leaders and the media to stop the spread of hate and division. And we pledge to stand with any community that is targeted by hateful rhetoric and violence."

There is no denying that anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise in America. Attacks on Muslims and their places of worship are becoming more frequent, particularly since the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and the shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.

Recent remarks by public figures inciting hatred and fear of Muslims based on their religion are fundamentally unconstitutional and simply un-American.

These remarks, which include suggestions to create a database of Americans based on their religion, barring Americans from traveling because of where they worship and refusing entry to any and all Muslims into the U.S., are a sign of the troubling times we are in.  It is deeply disturbing that America, a country of freedom and acceptance, is a place where such high profile individuals are given a platform to spew ignorant and bigoted ideas.